Consumer Media is Learning That Data Is the Product

I have found that many in the content world struggle to understand that content is a means to an end versus the actual end. I know this sounds blasphemous coming from someone who has pounded the table about the content being the product, but that doesn’t change the fact that content is a means to an end.

The actual end is a monetizable audience. If we remember the flywheel of media, the content’s purpose is to build a significant audience so that we can monetize the readers. And then, we reinvest that money back into more content so we can build a larger audience.